A Past Yet Forgotten
by Amhran na bhFiann
Summary: There's a lot about Hotch's past that the team doesn't know.


**Summary:** There's a lot about Hotch's past that the team doesn't know.

* * *

Hotch rode the elevator up in silence. Even though the day hadn't begun yet, Hotch was already tired. Today marked the anniversary of when he and Dharma first met. He never told anyone in the FBI about his first love. That part of his life was a well-guarded secret.

Somehow, they made their unlikely marriage work for six years. But, after a huge fight, he had packed his bags and moved to Seattle. That was over ten years ago and he hadn't heard from her since. Over the years, he tried desperately to forget about her yet somehow, his mind always drifted back to her.

When he began seeing Haley, he thought the new relationship could help him get over Dharma. To an extent, it worked and soon enough, they were married and had a young son. However, he quickly realised, he didn't really love Haley; he was simply using her as a replacement for Dharma. He felt guilty about it and it was that guilt that eventually drove him to confront Haley and tell her the truth.

Although they told people that his dedication to his job as an FBI agent was the main cause for the divorce, the reality was Haley was angry at him for lying about his past and using her to replace a former lover from that same past. She had demanded that he tell her the whole story surrounding his previous marriage, but he couldn't. She never brought it up again. Instead, she got a divorce.

Later on, he thought about telling Rossi about Dharma and his past life, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

The elevator _ding_ was what snapped him out of his thoughts. Pushing the memories back, he stepped out onto his floor.

" _Ma'am, I've worked here for a long time and there's no one here by that name,"_ he heard Emily say from the bullpen.

" _Oh, he's definitely on your team. I saw him on TV!"_

Hotch's head immediately shot up at the eerily familiar voice arguing with Emily. No, it couldn't be her. It just couldn't be. His mind had to be playing tricks on him. _Sleep deprivation_ , he summarised. _Sleep deprivation and loneliness._

" _You must be mistaken—"_

" _No, it was him. I'm 150% sure of it!"_

Whatever the commotion was about, he wanted to make sure the situation was under control and that Emily was OK. As he walked into the bullpen, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the tall, blonde woman.

It had been more than ten years since he had last seen her but she hadn't changed. Wearing a pair of jeans and a matching t-shirt, she stood in front of him, arguing with Emily.

"Hotch, can you call security?" asked Emily, snapping Hotch out of his thoughts.

"No please!" The woman spun around to face him in an attempt to persuade him not to call security. "Greg..." she trailed off as recognition hit her.

"Dharma?" Hotch questioned as he took a step forward. His heart was racing. She couldn't be real; this had to be a dream.

"Greg!"

Before Hotch realised what was happening, Dharma flung herself at him. He eagerly wrapped his arms around her slim body.

"I've missed you so much."

Without thinking, he leaned in for a kiss.

* * *

"Hotch?" asked Emily. She stood awkwardly watching the two of them embrace.

"What's going on here?" asked Morgan, as he and the rest of the team approached having heard the commotion from their desks.

"Apparently, we don't know Hotch as well as we thought," mumbled Emily, upset that their boss had kept an obviously large part of his life a secret from the team.

"Who's that?" questioned JJ. She eyed Dharma. "New girlfriend?"

"More like an ex-girlfriend," replied Emily, "Said she saw Hotch on TV and recognised him as her ex. I didn't believe her until that happened," she finished, gesturing at the couple.

Rossi cleared his throat, forcing the two lovers to stop and pull apart.

"Aaron, care to explain who this woman is."

All the colour drained from Hotch's face as the reality of his situation began to set in. "Well...em…" he stampered. The facade he had carefully constructed over the past decade was quickly crumbling.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dharma Montgomery. I'm Greg's ex-wife," she said in her usual cheery self.

"No, you're not."

"Em, actually Dave, Dharma was my first wife," said Hotch, his voice suddenly small and nervous. It was an odd change for the confident unit chief.

"First wife? You got re-married?" Hotch nodded. "Congratulations! Who's the lucky woman?"

"Her name was Haley."

"I'm– wait...was?" Dharma looked up at him

"She was murdered by a serial killer. George Foyet."

"Oh my God Greg...I'm so sorry," she said as she pulled him into a comforting hug.

"Don't mean to intrude, but you still have a lot of explaining to do, Aaron," Rossi interrupted for the second time in a couple of minutes.

"Honey relax, I got this," Dharma said, putting a hand on Hotch's shoulder to help comfort him. "Em, let me think...Greg and I met on the subway. Then, we went to Reno for pie...after, we got married. Greg _—"_

"Why do you keep calling him Greg?" asked Reid, cutting Dharma off.

"Duh! That's his name silly. Gregory Clifford Montgomery. Why would I call him anything else?" she said as if the answer was obvious.

"So your middle name is Clifford?" asked Morgan with a chuckle.

"Don't even think about it, Morgan." Hotch gave Morgan a glare which quickly stopped any further jokes about his former middle name. Turning his attention back to Dharma he quickly said, "Honey, my name isn't Greg anymore."

"It isn't?"

"No. I don't know how else to say it but, after we broke up, I left Greg Montgomery behind and became Aaron Hotchner. Pete knew a guy who was able to set up a whole new identity for me. For all legal purposes, Greg Montgomery doesn't exist anymore." He let out a mental sigh.

"How come none of this was found during your background check?" Emily interjected.

"Because you did a background check on Aaron Hotchner, not Greg Montgomery. Aaron Hotchner was a real person. Emphasis on was. He died less than six hours after he was born."

"So you took his identity."

Hotch nodded. "He was never issued a death certificate."

"But...why?" asked Dharma

"After what happened, I guess," he paused, "I just needed a new start. I'm sorry that I cut you out of my life like that. You deserve so much better."

"Let me get this straight. You took the identity of a dead baby, cut off contact from everyone in your old life and became an FBI agent?"

"Yes?" he replied, unsure of his answer.

"Well that explains why it was so hard to track you down!" exclaimed Dharma.

Hotch couldn't help but chuckle. "I have to say, you're getting a bit rusty. The first time we met, it took you ten minutes to find out my name, where I work and how to break into my office."

"Well next time, don't run off on me like that," said Dharma as she pulled him into another passionate kiss.

"I wouldn't dare."

"You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"You know what?" Hotch smiled at his team. "I'm going to take some of that vacation I've been saving up. Don't bother calling." He gave his team a small wave as he and Dharma walked towards the elevator.

"Wanna have sex in your car?"

"You betcha."


End file.
